Earphone devices, often referred to as headphones, may include one or more speakers that, when held close to a user's ear, may provide audio input to the user while possibly minimizing the amount of sound that can be heard by others. Examples of such earphone devices include circum-aural earphones, supra-aural earphones, and in-ear earphones. Circum-aural earphones fit around and encompass a user's ears. By encompassing the user's ears, circum-aural earphones may help to attenuate external noise that can interfere with the audio signal provided by the earphone device. However, such circum-aural earphones are typically bigger and heavier than other types of earphones.
Supra-aural earphones, in contrast, are typically positioned on top of a user's ears, rather than fitting around and encompassing the ears. As such, supra-aural earphones tend to be smaller and more lightweight than circum-aural earphones, but typically provide less attenuation of external noise.
In-ear earphones may typically include two types of earphone devices. One type, often referred to as earbuds, are typically positioned in a user's outer ear. Earbuds, while typically providing less attenuation of external noise than other types of earphones, are also typically much smaller and lighter than other types of earphones. The second type of in-ear earphones are typically referred to as canal phones or in-ear monitors. Canal phones may provide very high attenuation of external noise and, like earbuds, are typically much smaller and lighter than other types of earphones. The small, lightweight design of in-ear earphones can make the in-ear earphones highly convenient for use with portable devices, such as portable media players. Similarly, the small, lightweight design can make it convenient for a user to transport the in-ear earphones for use with multiple portable or non-portable devices.